Client vs. Mentee: The Difference between the two and why I use one over the other in my Coaching Business
When I first started my coaching business in August 2019, I made a distinct decision that the humans I worked with were not going to be just clients to me, but something deeper and more relationship-driven.
For me, I adopted calling my humans mentees based on both the meaning behind the two words and my direct experience with them.
According to Mariam-Webster, client means “a person who engages the professional advice or services of another,” a customer, or “a person served by or utilizing the services of a social agency.” This did not sit well with me and felt very transactional when it came to the work I was doing as a Business Mentor and Life Coach.
For starters, in the Coach certification program I went through, Inner Glow Circle, we’re taught not to control the folks we work with by projecting our bias on to them. We’re taught to guide them through what they want in life. We’re taught that the people we work with are the experts of their lives. Any professional advice I have to give doesn’t mean squat to anyone if it isn’t in alignment for them. I’m here to help pull out the best version of themselves, not influence my agenda on to them.
Additionally, for the type of coaching and educational programs I run, the word client has never been personal enough for me. I run a community-based coaching business. I take the time to get to know every single one of my community members from their identity to their businesses so I can build resources and materials that serve them directly. Once people get into my community, come to my women’s circles, or join my programs, I want them to feel like I’m in their corner for life.
So for me? The word mentee when it came to how I describe the relationship I have with the humans I work with felt so right to me. According to Mariam-Webster the word mentee means “one who is being mentored, or is a Protege, one who is protected or trained or whose career is furthered by a person of experience, prominence, or influence.”
When folks work with me, they not only get access to me and my hands-on support, but they get access to my community, my network, and any opportunities I can make available to them. As a Black, Queer, Woman who has had the privilege of an education and connections of influence around the world, this means a lot to me.
I take the time to learn, earn, and teach so I can spread more equity to my community and my mentees. My group mentorships and masterminds often foster more collaboration within them, and the members inside of those spaces hire one another and spread wealth within themselves as well.
Okay vee, so what works best for me in my business?
Here are a couple of steps I suggest that you do so you can figure out which word works best for you!
1. Ask your community members.
The folks who drive your business are your community members. Period.
They’ll be the first and best people to ask what they want to be called, what kind of support they need, what they would want to pay for products or programs, and what they expect from you as a community leader and Coach.
This is also called Market Research. When you’re starting out, you don’t have to have an entire Google Form or Typeform ready to go to learn about your community members. You can have questions typed up in your notes and hop on calls with your ideal community member to ask questions, or even use your Instagram Stories to ask questions as well.
2. Figure out if you want to have a coaching program or a mentoring program.
Coaching and Mentoring are two different things and often get confused as just coaching. When you’re able to know the difference between the two and get trained to do Coaching really well, being able to step in and out of coach mode is not only easier but can help protect your energy and define expectations surrounding what is best for the human who wishes to work with you.
A great question to ask someone seeking guidance from you could be:
Are you seeking more accountability for the goals you wish to achieve, or do you wish to have more hands-on support as you work towards your goals?
The clearer both you and the person wanting to work with you know what they need, the easier it’ll be to figure out what kind of working relationship they need to succeed in their goals.
3. Figure out what kind of program you want to offer.
I have a hybrid-style mentorship program — which I define as an offer that combines coaching, consulting, creative services in addition to my product suite — that is available to folks who want to work with me 1:1 and in group settings.
What I love about this is that I’m able to set up Socratic-style coaching sessions that wrap up with commitments, a list of resources each of my mentees can walk through, and additional references from my eProduct suite for any additional learning they may need to do.
The more clarity you have around this, the easier it will be to figure out the kind of relationship you want with the people you work with.
Whether you choose to call the humans you work with Clients, Mentees, or whatever feels good to you, that is your choice and your choice alone. But I hope my story and information was able to help you make the most informed decision for yourself as a coach and business owner.
If this article resonated with you, feel free to connect with me on Instagram to dive even deeper into my content all on Inclusive Business Strategies, Diversity, Equity, and Anti-Racism education.
